NEW DELHI: Trust Apple to bring a product or feature and make it appear as if it didn’t exist before they made it 'mainstream’. We have seen it happening with the iPod and many features of the iPhone. Apple has mastered the art of creating such perceptions like it did with the AirPods. It's not like there weren't any wireless earbuds in the market before Apple Airpods came in and gave it a ‘mainstream’ tag. Products from Samsung (Icon X), Motorola (Moto Hint) were around before Apple swooped in and in turn created pressure on audio companies as well. With handset makers entering the audio accessory market, it was a matter of time before brands like Bose had up the ante. So, Bose has now entered the ‘true’ wireless earbuds market with the Soundsport Free Wireless.
The Soundsport Free Wireless, which is the non-cable connected version of Soundsport Free, arrived late last year but entered India at Rs 18,990 few weeks ago. You can buy it online.
While Apple Airpods is a fashion-first earbud, the Bose Soundsport Free Wireless is made to appeal those who are fitness-oriented and are into workouts or sports activities. Bose is betting big on this one as it is the US-based firm's first truly wireless earbuds.
In the past few weeks we have used the Soundsport Free Wireless as our full time audio accessory and here is what we think about it.
Design
While it doesn’t live up the tall claim of being a ‘touchstone’ in the world of cable-less earphone, it gets most of the basics spot on. For instance, instead of getting just two earbuds, you get three different sizes of StayHear+ Sport Tips - Large, Medium and Small, two earbuds itself and a case that can be recharged with a USB cable. It also charges the earbuds.
At first these wireless piece of machinery may look slightly awkward once put. These stick out way more than what usually other earbuds (including AirPods) do, something which we personally are not a huge fan of. But on the brighter side, it does stay where you fix it, no matter what activity you’re doing. That, of course, is heavily dependent on whether you’re using the suitable sized StayHear+ Sport tips.
As the name suggests, these earbuds are clearly targeted for the activity-oriented audience out there. That perhaps has a fair share of downside to it as you can’t clearly use these as your full time audio accessory. We tried to do so but simply couldn’t because the StayHear+ Sport tips, no matter how well it manages to keep the earbud stay in place, starts hurting after a couple of hours, forcing you to take it off.
The unit we received was the ‘Midnight Blue’ colour variant. It can also be purchased in Black and Bright Orange colour version, which according to us looks the best. The only suggestion we can give to Bose is if it can shrink the size of the product a bit more.
Like every other popular earbud in the market, the Bose SoundSport Free Wireless also has tech stuffed on the inside. On both the earbuds you have a Bluetooth antenna. While the right earbud has volume controllers with a button in the middle that lets you skip songs, pause them, take or end calls, the left earbud has just one button to connect itself with the app.
Bose is known for its superior build quality and they don’t disappoint with SoundSport Free Wireless either. They are durable and are also rain or sweat proof. However, you can’t really go for a swim with those.
The case charges the SoundSport Free Wireless. It also has LED indicators to tell you how much charge is left. You can charge the case as well by connecting it with a source through the Micro USB cable that comes inside the box.
Performance
If you aren’t an audiophile and are just another casual listener who loves their music, the SoundSport Free Wireless will come as a true delight. After lending our ears to these earbuds for hours, we can safely say it as one of the best wireless earbuds we’ve come across when it comes to audio output quality.
Of course, don’t expect it to be as good as some of the wired headphones in the given price range. However, when you compare it with other wireless earbuds, you’ll find Soundsport Free Wireless throwing out better auditory information with near non-existent sound stage. Since these are always connected through Bluetooth, you won’t get the best sound staging levels though.
The Soundsport Free Wireless does focus on deeper bass, giving EDM listeners the much required ‘thump’. The vocals are fairly clear in case you are into acoustic music. Bose too has its own tech stuffed inside that keeps the audio balanced even when heard at high volume. It has a volume-optimised EQ and Bose digital signal processing to make music ‘sound full’.
All in all, the Bose Soundsport Free Wireless is not heavy on bass or focuses more on treble but it does manage to deliver an overall impressive sound signature.
Given the design of the accessory, we did find the earbuds leaking out music outside. At the highest volume levels, the music is audible to those sitting in at least a yard away from you. In addition, the noise cancellation is also not as good as experienced in some other in-ear earphones in the same segment.
On the other hand, the Soundsport Free Wireless is really very easy to connect with the source devices. In your smartphones all you need is the Bose Connect app. It took us less than a minute to set it up, which funnily is also the record time we have achieved till date for connecting any wireless device.
When we talk about the battery, the wireless earbud can be termed as just about reasonable. If you are using it every day for almost a couple of hours, it would run out of battery after almost three days. This is if you are keeping it for charging inside the case. Otherwise on a single charge, the earbud can run for around 4 hours. However, it does charge fast though. Bose claims that the case has a battery that can charge the earbuds fully up to two times. In addition, 15 minutes of recharge does give you enough juice to run the earbud for 30 minutes or a bit more.
Verdict
Looking at the design, build, sound quality and how well it plays with the app, we can say that being a first attempt by Bose on wireless earbuds, the SoundSport Free Wireless is a really good product. It might not look like your regular earbuds but the design does grow on you over time. The sound quality is good, crisp and clear. Like we said above, it is made for those who are into activities so those looking for full-time earbuds, this may not be your cup of tea.
Shelling Rs 18,990 for the Bose SoundSport Free Wireless is a fair deal. However, making it available for under Rs 15,000 price point may have made others in the same segment sweat. But we are still months away before that happens.
The Soundsport Free Wireless, which is the non-cable connected version of Soundsport Free, arrived late last year but entered India at Rs 18,990 few weeks ago. You can buy it online.
While Apple Airpods is a fashion-first earbud, the Bose Soundsport Free Wireless is made to appeal those who are fitness-oriented and are into workouts or sports activities. Bose is betting big on this one as it is the US-based firm's first truly wireless earbuds.
In the past few weeks we have used the Soundsport Free Wireless as our full time audio accessory and here is what we think about it.
Design
While it doesn’t live up the tall claim of being a ‘touchstone’ in the world of cable-less earphone, it gets most of the basics spot on. For instance, instead of getting just two earbuds, you get three different sizes of StayHear+ Sport Tips - Large, Medium and Small, two earbuds itself and a case that can be recharged with a USB cable. It also charges the earbuds.
At first these wireless piece of machinery may look slightly awkward once put. These stick out way more than what usually other earbuds (including AirPods) do, something which we personally are not a huge fan of. But on the brighter side, it does stay where you fix it, no matter what activity you’re doing. That, of course, is heavily dependent on whether you’re using the suitable sized StayHear+ Sport tips.
As the name suggests, these earbuds are clearly targeted for the activity-oriented audience out there. That perhaps has a fair share of downside to it as you can’t clearly use these as your full time audio accessory. We tried to do so but simply couldn’t because the StayHear+ Sport tips, no matter how well it manages to keep the earbud stay in place, starts hurting after a couple of hours, forcing you to take it off.
The unit we received was the ‘Midnight Blue’ colour variant. It can also be purchased in Black and Bright Orange colour version, which according to us looks the best. The only suggestion we can give to Bose is if it can shrink the size of the product a bit more.
Like every other popular earbud in the market, the Bose SoundSport Free Wireless also has tech stuffed on the inside. On both the earbuds you have a Bluetooth antenna. While the right earbud has volume controllers with a button in the middle that lets you skip songs, pause them, take or end calls, the left earbud has just one button to connect itself with the app.
Bose is known for its superior build quality and they don’t disappoint with SoundSport Free Wireless either. They are durable and are also rain or sweat proof. However, you can’t really go for a swim with those.
The case charges the SoundSport Free Wireless. It also has LED indicators to tell you how much charge is left. You can charge the case as well by connecting it with a source through the Micro USB cable that comes inside the box.
Performance
If you aren’t an audiophile and are just another casual listener who loves their music, the SoundSport Free Wireless will come as a true delight. After lending our ears to these earbuds for hours, we can safely say it as one of the best wireless earbuds we’ve come across when it comes to audio output quality.
Of course, don’t expect it to be as good as some of the wired headphones in the given price range. However, when you compare it with other wireless earbuds, you’ll find Soundsport Free Wireless throwing out better auditory information with near non-existent sound stage. Since these are always connected through Bluetooth, you won’t get the best sound staging levels though.
The Soundsport Free Wireless does focus on deeper bass, giving EDM listeners the much required ‘thump’. The vocals are fairly clear in case you are into acoustic music. Bose too has its own tech stuffed inside that keeps the audio balanced even when heard at high volume. It has a volume-optimised EQ and Bose digital signal processing to make music ‘sound full’.
All in all, the Bose Soundsport Free Wireless is not heavy on bass or focuses more on treble but it does manage to deliver an overall impressive sound signature.
Given the design of the accessory, we did find the earbuds leaking out music outside. At the highest volume levels, the music is audible to those sitting in at least a yard away from you. In addition, the noise cancellation is also not as good as experienced in some other in-ear earphones in the same segment.
On the other hand, the Soundsport Free Wireless is really very easy to connect with the source devices. In your smartphones all you need is the Bose Connect app. It took us less than a minute to set it up, which funnily is also the record time we have achieved till date for connecting any wireless device.
When we talk about the battery, the wireless earbud can be termed as just about reasonable. If you are using it every day for almost a couple of hours, it would run out of battery after almost three days. This is if you are keeping it for charging inside the case. Otherwise on a single charge, the earbud can run for around 4 hours. However, it does charge fast though. Bose claims that the case has a battery that can charge the earbuds fully up to two times. In addition, 15 minutes of recharge does give you enough juice to run the earbud for 30 minutes or a bit more.
Verdict
Looking at the design, build, sound quality and how well it plays with the app, we can say that being a first attempt by Bose on wireless earbuds, the SoundSport Free Wireless is a really good product. It might not look like your regular earbuds but the design does grow on you over time. The sound quality is good, crisp and clear. Like we said above, it is made for those who are into activities so those looking for full-time earbuds, this may not be your cup of tea.
Shelling Rs 18,990 for the Bose SoundSport Free Wireless is a fair deal. However, making it available for under Rs 15,000 price point may have made others in the same segment sweat. But we are still months away before that happens.
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